22<S DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



spring of 1884 it was noted from latitude 39° in Missouri to 41° 

 42' in Iowa between March 21 and 27. Then no more records 

 were made until after the April storms. April 29 it reached 

 Heron Lake, Minn. In 1885 they came to Des Moines April 16; 

 Heron Lake, Minn., May 4" (Cooke, Bird Migr. in Miss. Val., 

 1884-85, 99). Trippe reported it as abundant in spring and fall 

 in Decatur and Mahaska counties (Pr. Bost. Soc, xv, 1872, 240), 

 and Allen as "not seen until September iSth [in western Iowa], 

 when it became common" (Mem. Bost. Soc, i, 1S6S, 501). J. W. 

 Preston observed large flocks wheeling over the burned tracts of 

 prairie in early Ma}^ in Kossuth county (O. & O., xviii, 1893, 82). 

 The reports of observers vary as to the abundance of the Golden 

 Plover, some listing it as rare, others as a common migrant. 



"At Davenport, October 24, 1889, one was found in the morning 

 lying dead under a hundred-foot electric light tower which it had 

 struck while migrating during the night" (Burtis H. Wilson). "I 

 never have seen this bird alive in Iowa, but about 1889 (in May) 

 there was a heavy shower, almost a cloud-burst, about 8:10 p. m., 

 and the streets were full of drowned birds, among them about a 

 hundred Golden Plover" (G. H. Berry, Cedar Rapids). 



Genus Oxyechus Reichenbacli. 

 121. (273). Oxver/i !f s ron'/'cn/s (hinn.). Killdeer. 



The Killdeer or Killdeer Plover is the connnonest representa- 

 tive of the family in Iowa. It is an abundant summer resident 

 in all parts of the state and is generally known from its shrill, 

 plaintive ''kill-dec'' note, which is often repeated and heard at all 

 times and places along the .shores of ponds, on pastures and fields, 

 or when migrating at night. The four eggs are laid on the 

 ground, without much pretence of a nest, in pa.stures or even in 

 plowed fields. I have found several nests placed upon the hills 

 of a frequently cultivated potato patch. The bird becomes very 

 noisy and feigns lameness when the nesting site is closely ap- 

 proached, but usually slinks away for some distance before giving 

 voice, so that its exact location is difficult to discover. The Kill- 

 deer is very restless when feeding, running rapidly from one point 

 to another and frequently flying for short distances. It is an 

 early migrant, arriving in March with the ducks and remaining 

 until late in October. 



